Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm ten and want a red tegu male. I'm very experienced with herps and would like to know if anyone advises me against getting one. if any one does think i should not get one than what large herp should i get?

Hey, if you can handle the responsibility and your parents are cool with it, why not. Tegu's take a little more care then a lot of other large lizards, but seem to be the most friendly. Good luck.
Dan

Most CB tegus (especially raised from babies)are very tame and handleable.

Age has little to do with it. It's a matter of responsibility. If you can fulfill your chores around the house, keep up in schoolwork, take care of an animal and still have time to be a kid and enjoy your childhood... thats great. You need to do research (obviously you are doing that just being on this board), and figure out how much time it will take a day to take care of a tegu. You also need to take into account how the tegu will be taken care of in your absence. What happens if you go to summer camp? If you go to a friends house for the weekend? and all the other things that could prevent you from being there as the parent of your tegu. It'a all a matter of choices.

Of course you also need to considder feeding and housing and make sure you can provide adequitely for both. Raising a Tegu is not cheap either. After you buy the animal you have to house and feed it. An enclosure for a 4 foot lizard that eats rats a couple times a week plus vet visits needs to be planned for financially.

If you get all the facts and are willing and able to deal with all the resposability I see no reason why you could not raise a tegu, IF your parents are part of that decision and are informed as well.

We raise Red tegus and my 10 year old daughter and 13 year old son both handle them with no problems

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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

yah, i can do all of that, im writing a book and going to get more chickens for an egg buisiness. those will bring in money for the care of my herps. plus if we leave for someplace...um, do you know were there is some herp care buisiness or something? also im going to get a new freezer cuz my mom hates having a few pinkys in the freezer for my small corn and she would go CRAZY if she had to have rats for a tegu and rabbits for a c.red tailed boa!

I see no reason, it just depends on how much you're willing to put into it. "Experience" is a pretty relative term. If your experience is limited to anoles and leopard geckos, then I'd suggest something like a Bearded Dragon. But if you've already had Bearded Dragon or something, then by all means, take the next big step. Just realize, these are pretty demanding (But WELL worth it) lizards.

i have lizards and a snake:corn,w. fence lizard, and a beardie. plus i,ve had bunches of lizards and snakes before: anoles, grass lizards, garters, green snakes,alligator lizards, leos.ect. thanks for the posts and stuff, i just wanted to make shure it wasnt a bad idea to get a tegu.

i commend you on your concern and your responsible actions. the fact that you are asking combined with your previous experience leads me to believe that you should have no problems with a tegu. however, they are a lot of work. if you keep rabbits for your boa, you could easily feed rabbits to a tegu (after he is 3 feet or so). you could chop the rabbits into small pieces but in my experience, tegus are one of the few reptiles that can take "bites" out of a food. they seem pretty good at ripping off manageable chunks, unlike most monitors and snakes which eat food whole. good luck.

i dont have a boa actually, i just want one.